Technology has evolved over the years; what was seen ten years ago as a technological revolution is now becoming ordinary. Moreover, AI technologies are at the pace of creating revolutions and paradigm shifts in almost all areas such as education, healthcare, business, engineering, automotive, etc. A chatbot is an AI technology powered by natural language processing techniques to learn and understand human language. Recently, many universities and educational institutions have started to use chatbot technologies to help students in the admission process and academic advising along with the learning process. Teachers can use chatbots to follow up with students, review their understanding of subjects, and assess homework, among many other (Aleedy, Atwell& Meshoul, 2022).
Chatbots offer numerous benefits, yet they also present certain limitations and challenges. According to (Annus, 2023) the analysis of these benefits encompasses two primary dimensions: the impact on students and the implications for teachers' work. For students the impact including: 1. Interactive and Personalized learning: ChatGPT enables interactive learning and question-and-answer based communication. Students can ask ChatGPT questions and ChatGPT can answer them, helping them to extend their knowledge and understanding of the material. This form of education gives students the opportunity to interact directly with an intelligent system and receive support in their learning process, even if they do not have immediate access to teachers or other tutors. 2. Fast and available help: ChatGPT is always available and can quickly answer students' questions and problems. This can help students get immediate help when they need it. ChatGPT can also provide support for students who have limited access to educational resources. 3. Language learning: ChatGPT can be useful for language learning. Through interactive communication, students can practice the target language and improve their grammar and language skills. As for teachers, the impact of AI chatbots includes several aspects, including: 1. Support materials and resources: ChatGPT help teachers to produce support materials and resources. ChatGPT can be used by teachers to generate supplementary materials, examples, or exercises to support the curriculum. 2. Generate tests and assignments: ChatGPT can help teachers create tests, assignments, and homework. Teachers can generate questions using ChatGPT and the system can provide answers for students. This can test students' knowledge and help teachers monitor students' progress. 3. Research tool: ChatGPT can be a useful research tool for teachers. Teachers can ask questions about research topics or teaching issues and the system can provide extensive information and help teachers to expand their own knowledge and continuously improve their teaching.
Despite all these benefits of AI Chatbots in education, studies indicate that there are several concerns to consider: First, responses may contain incomplete or incorrect information, which can mislead students if they are unable to recognize and rectify errors. Second, excessive reliance on AI tools can diminish students' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, studies suggest that overuse of AI risks students' intellectual independence. Furthermore, the absence of human interaction in AI lacks the personal touch and emotional support essential to the learning process. Finally, privacy and security concerns arise when AI systems collect and store data.
In conclusion, the adoption of chatbots in education is expected to expand as technological advancements continue. Chatbots hold significant potential to enhance teaching and improving learning experiences, they are limited by their inability to fully replace human emotional support and interactive learning. Furthermore, the effectiveness of chatbots is contingent upon the quality of the data and algorithms employed, making it imperative to address these issues to protect students and teachers’ information.
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